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Quality and Quantity of Jobs

Coordinators

Objectives:

The aim is to analyse the quality of employment and the public policies directed at enhancing it within EU member states.

Data Collection

Job creation has been an important public policy goal accross Europe since the late 1970's, but iniially the focus was solely on how to create more jobs, rather that on how to create more good-quality jobs. Research within strand 03investigates the very notion of 'quality of employment', and works on the relevant objective and subjective indicators for its measurement. The 'state of the art' project identified 6 main indicators helping to assess job quality: pay and fringe benefits, job security, work intensity, autonomy and control over the job, skills and training opportunities as well as intrinsic job rewards. Subsequent tasks within WP03, inclose cooperation with EDACwowe, included detailled analyses of these as well as of other related indicators (life-long learning and career development, gender equality, health and safety at work, flexibility, work-life balance, social dialogue and worker involvement, diversity and non-discrimination), and studied determinants of cross-national variations in quality of work across Europe.

Integrating Activities

The state of the art reports produced in the first year (D03.02 and D03.03) delineated research fields and research priorities that were further explored in the tasks proposed for the second 8-month period (October 2007-March 2009), dealing with working poor (T03.11), industrial relations (T03.12), educational systems (T03.14) and conceptual issues pertinent to job quality and and quantity in cross-national perspective.

Three new tasks have been launched for this third period:

The first task T03.21: 'Working poor in the European Union, a comparative approach' is the continuation of the previous task T03.11. Its objective is to deepen the understanding of in-work poverty and to foster research in this area in the European Union.

The task T03.22: 'Job quality and tensions between work and private life' aims to cover some research gaps identified in the analysis of the tensions between work and private life of citizens in the European Union.

The task T03.23: 'Professional progress of women in Europe, women on boards and executive posts in the European Union' aims to evaluate the presence of women on boards and top executive positions in the European Union. It also highlights the incorporation of gender issues in WP03 and intends to foster the collaboration with other WPs.

International seminar: The first RECWOWE action 03 meeting about Tensions between Quality and Quantity of Jobs in the EU was held in Oviedo, from 27th to 28th of April 2007.

The second RECWOWE action 03 meeting on 'Conciliation of Employment and Welfare. Research and Social Dialogue', jointly organised by the University of Oviedo and the Regional Economic and Social Council of the Principality of Asturias was held in Oviedo, from 29th to 30th November 2007.

The third RECWOWE action 03 meeting on 'Immigration and In-work Poverty in the European Union' was held in Oviedo, from 14th to 15th November 2008.

The fourth RECWOWE action 03 meeting on 'Reforming Social Protection Systems: New Risks, New Policies?', jointly organised by the Observatoire Social Européen and the Belgian National Work Council was held in Brussels, in 5th February 2009.